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Hazing suspect surrenders ahead of plea agreement

Conner Ravelo surrendered Wednesday at the Leon County jail to start his jail time in connection with a plea deal connected to the death of Florida State fraternity pledge Andrew Coffey he is expected to accept in mid-April.

Hazing suspect surrenders ahead of plea agreement

Conner Ravelo surrendered Wednesday at the Leon County jail to start his jail time in connection with a plea deal connected to the death of Florida State fraternity pledge Andrew Coffey he is expected to accept in mid-April.(Photo: Leon County jail)

Conner Ravelo surrendered Wednesday at the Leon County jail to start the punishment outlined in a plea deal with prosecutors for his role in the drinking death of Florida State fraternity pledge Andrew Coffey.

By April 16, the day the agreement between State Attorney Jack Campbell and Ravelo is expected to be signed by a judge at a scheduled hearing, he’ll have roughly 22 days of jail credit. The terms of the agreement have not been publicly disclosed.

Ravelo, Coffey’s “Big Brother” in the now-shuttered FSU chapter of Pi Kappa Phi fraternity, is one of nine men charged in the 20-year-old’s death in November.

He is accused of buying, with a fake ID, the bottle of bourbon investigators say Coffey downed the night he died during a party where pledges are matched with older fraternity members.

Ravelo’s attorney, Eric Abrahamsen, said he and prosecutors were unable to schedule a day for the plea before April when Coffey’s family and others could be in town. His client decided to go ahead and start his jail sentence.

He would not elaborate on details of Ravelo’s plea agreement.

“He wants to get his jail time done and behind him, so he wanted to go ahead and start instead of being in limbo,” Abrahamsen said. “With the anticipated jail sentence, he is getting his credit now.”

Campbell too would not discuss specifics of Ravelo’s plea. He was the only fraternity member to testify before a Leon County grand jury about the night Coffey died.

Ravelo is not enrolled at FSU this semester. He received an interim disciplinary action to be removed from the university on an emergency basis. He still faces sanctions from FSU. A hearing date has not been set.

Plea agreements also have been offered to the other eight Pi Kappa Phi members facing felony charges of hazing causing injury or death, who are all between the ages of 22 and 20, are: Kyle J. Bauer, Brett A. Birmingham, Christopher M. Hamlin, Luke E. Kluttz, Clayton M. Muehlstein, Anthony Oppenheimer, Anthony Petagine and John B. Ray.

Under the terms of one agreement, they could plead guilty to two counts of misdemeanor hazing with adjudication withheld, spend 60 days in the Leon County jail followed by two years of probation, be required to testify or publicly speak about Coffey’s death at every forum requested, take a hazing awareness class, be prohibited from alcohol with random testing, and provide a written or verbal apology to the Coffey family.

The second option is the same except defendants would be able to plead guilty to one count of felony hazing and complete 60 days in the Leon County Sheriff’s Jail Workcamp instead of serving jail time.

Contact Karl Etters at ketters@tallahassee.com or @KarlEtters on Twitter.